Campbell, "Race, Upper Canadian Constitutionalism and 'British Justice'"

In the February 2015 issue of the Law & History Review, Lyndsay Campbell of the University of Calgary has an article "Race, Upper Canadian Constitutionalism and 'British Justice.'"

Here's the abstract: 

This article explores a puzzle in Canadian legal historiography: the meaning of “British justice” and its relationship to race. Scholars have noted the use of this term in the interwar years of the twentieth century, to object to demonstrations of racial bias in the legal system. The puzzle is why. From the mid-1850s onward, statutes aimed at circumscribing the rights and opportunities of aboriginal people multiplied. British Columbia passed anti-Chinese, anti-Japanese, and anti-Indian legislation. Saskatchewan prohibited Chinese and Japanese employers from hiring white women. At least some officials supposed that legislation targeting African Canadians would be permissible. In 1924, the Toronto Telegram called for a poll tax against Jews. It is clear that between 1880 and 1920 or thereabouts, federal and provincial law was deeply involved in creating and reifying legal categories that rested explicitly on physical distinctions perceived to exist among people, which were assumed to signal morally and legally relevant characteristics. Why, then, would anyone have thought that “British justice” should be a shield against racism?

Cancelled: Roundtable Discussion on Criminal Justice History at U of T, March 6th

* Update: The roundtable scheduled for Friday March 6th has been cancelled.*

The Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto is hosting a roundtable discussion on Criminal Justice History on Friday, March 6th.

Here's the notice:

Roundtable discussion:

Criminal Justice History

Speakers: Prof. Li Chen (Historical & Cultural Studies, University of Toronto),

Prof. Paul Craven (Social Science, York University) and

Prof. Jim Phillips (Faculty of Law, University of Toronto)

Moderator: Prof. Doug Hay (Osgoode & History Dept., York University)

Friday March 6th, 2015

3:00pm to 5:00pm

Ericson Seminar Room

2^nd Floor, Canadiana Gallery Building

14 Queen’s Park Crescent West

The discussion will be followed by a wine and cheese in the Centre’s lounge from 5:00pm-6:00pm

If you are a person with a disability and require accommodation, please contact Lori Wells at 416-978-3722 x226 or email lori.wells@utoronto.ca and we will do our best to make appropriate arrangements.

Watch Ian Kyer speak on the history of legal education in Ontario

Recently legal historian Ian Kyer spoke to the Osgoode Hall Law School first year class on the development of legal education in Ontario through the stories of six lawyers.

Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an0l2XxAxT0&feature=youtu.be

For further reading: 

The Fiercest Debate: Cecil A. Wright, The Benchers And Legal Education In Ontario, 1923-1957.by C. Ian Kyer and Jerome Bickenbach. Published by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History with the University of Toronto Press, 1987

Lawyers, Families, and Businesses: The Shaping of a Bay Street Law Firm, Faskens 1863-1963 by C. Ian Kyer, published by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History with Irwin Law, 2013